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Special Keaueets 1. Is writing to thfc ofleo oa ■fanja giro yomr i 1B< , .kloMtc Badnca lottora and to be paUiabod ehoald be written ow eraente aheeta, aad the objeet ofeedi clearly Indicated by nacaaaary note when required. *. Articlea lor publication ahould bo writteu in o dear, legible baud, aad oa only om aide of tbe page. 4, All cbaagefe in adTertiaeaenta aamt racbuaon Friady. V v • • VOL. VII. NO. 14. BARNWELL/.CViH., 8. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 0, 1883. $2 a Year. *o eoauunloatiou wffl baj /til i of tbe miter, not ibUeatka, but mu gut TJE PEOPLE, Aidrani, Barnwea O. fl. 8. CL TUE OLD HOMESTEAD. All, hero it is, the deer old piece, Unchanged through all these year*; How like none iweet, familiar face My childhood's home appears ! The grand old tree# behind the door Still spread their branches wide; f The river wanders as of yore, With sweetly running tide; Tbe distant hills look green and gay, The flowers are blooming wild; And everything looks glad to-day, As when I was a child. Ilegardleaa how the years have flown, Half wonderingly I stand; I catch no fond, endearing tone, I clasp no fricndljphaiq}; * . I think my mother's smile to meet, . I list my father's call, ■ r I pansc to hear my brother's feet Come bounding through the hall; Bat silence all sround me reigns, A chill creeps through my heart; No trace of those I love remains, And tea in tiuliidden start. What though the sunbeams fall as fail What though the bndding flowers Shed tbrir fragrance on the air Within lift’s golden hours; The loving ones flialclilrtered here These walls may not restore; Voices that filled my yontliful ear Will greet my soul no more, And yet I q.at the dear old place With slow and lingering tread, As when we kiss a clay-cold face And leave it with the dead. Ichabod Turner’* Mission. BT KATB W. HA WILTON. “Crooked! Crockett! Crooked !” rang out tbe sharp, peculiar, dissonant voice, snd the toll, tliin figure in seedy gar ments and flapping hat swayed to and fro on the stump that had been selected for s rostrum. “All tilings have gone crooked in this worldr^d I’ve come to ret ’em straight—to undo the snarls, give the power where it belongs and put men in their j luces. Oh—*b—h my' friends 1 The world is topsy-turvy; the top’s at the bottom and the bottom's at the top, and I’ve Mine to turn things right ee*d up.” The six o’clock whistle had sounded I he close of another day’s work st the shops, and the meu, pouring out from the vavions smoke-stained archways, paused to listen. The speaker’s excite- nient seemed to deepen os his audience increased. The keen eyes under the old hat darted lightning-like glanoos here and there; he gesticulated wildly and h is voice rose to a still higher pitch. ' “Oh-h—h yes! Look at me ! I'm Ichabod Turner; and the mission I'm sent on is to nund^all crookedness and turn things right eend up !" The men seemed to find s grim pleas uro in the harangue. They laughed a they exchanged comments. Jim Barclay, sauntering down tli long walk, stopped beside s bright young girl who had paused for a moment on thebuter edge of the crowd. “If that fellow would begin his woik by altering the days and nights s little, or my means of enjoying them, I’d be obliged to him,” he laughed. The girl turned with a little start o surprise and pleasure. “Why, Jim I” Then a glance jU his luucb-basket brought the swift question "You’re not going out to-night ? It’ not your run.” “I must make it though, they say. It’s an extra train, and they are short of men, somehow—offer disabled. I feel considerably disabled myself.” “You were out last night?" “And all the night before and nearly all yesterday. I didn’t 1 get in to day until afternoon, and I was scarcely set tied into a comfortable sleep before I was called. I’m not fit to go, that’s a fact Don’t worry, Dell.” He broke off his sentence abruptly as he saw the shadow of anxiety on his companion's fair face. “It doesn’t hap pen so often. They’re short, yon see.” “It oughtn’t to happen at all,"insisted Dell, indignantly. “I wouldn’t go." “Then my head would come off a short notice,” laughed Jim. “We can’t afford that” Pretty Dell flashed rcsily. She knew so well what that meant. There was. littlehoose talked over and arranged t every detail of ita simple furnishing, fo which they two were planning when Jim should obtain his hoped-for promotion “No, I wo*’t insure ahy necks to night, bat 111 take the risk of crashing s few other people's heeds rather than the certainty of losing my own.” laughed Jim. “It's a pity that fellow who ie so sure of bis mission couldn’t torn my brains right side np; they feel crooked enough. Bat don’t worry, Dell,” he re- ^ pwted hurriedly. The crowd began to thin. Hungry men, swinging their empty dinner-pails, presently found the prospect of sapper more sllaring than the stranger’s prom ised millennium. Jim looked at his watch, and found he had not even five minutes to spare for a part of the home ward, walk with Dell He parted from her with a reluctant good-by, and she walked away alone. She had gone bat a le w stepi, hewerer, when the turned and back. . “Youll be careful, Jim ? Don’t let adything happen.” % “Why, Dell!” Ha laughed, half touched, half wondering. “I Mightn’t to have' talked such nonsense. Don’t be uneasy.” . She smiled in answer, snd the cloud , slowly Madfodsbei fto»M aha walked | k** Si evening wore on, though he but dimly realized it. Getting everything in readi ness for starting was harder work than usual There was a dull pain in his eyes and a throbbing in bis temples. “This trip’s rather rough on you, Jim remarked a fireman, half qnes- tloiihgiy, half commiseratingly. — “Rather!” Jim laughed faintly. “I’m stiff aud used up, but I’ll get over it when wo’re fairly off, I expect” When the station with its din and dancing lights was left behind, however, and the long line stretched away straight before him, his occupation became but a mere routine so treacherously familiar that it would scarcely hold his eyes or thoughts. Mechanically he attended to his engine, with his mind straying far nway from it to Dell, and then running oddly into a confused memory of the npenker at the depot, Until the swift movement of the polished rods before him seemed the motion of gesticulating u ms, and the sound in his ears resolved itself into a measured monotonous repe tition of meaningless words—“ Crooked and straight! Right side up!” “Hello l Caught myself napping, l_ do believe ! Jim Barclay, what are yon about ? See here, Bill to his fireman —“just keep an eye on me, will you?” The young engineer shook himself looked about him and stood stiffly erect He whistled a tune vigorously to assun himself that he was wide awake. What a drowsy rockabv motion the train had ! Even the jar and rattle seemed to lull and stupefy, though he stood erect at bis post. He was glad this sort of work was nearly over. At least he hoped it was nearly over, for he did not see how the desired promotion could l>e much longer delayed, aud then such calls as this would be fewer. He was looking anxiously forward to the day when he would csrry the longed-for tidings to Dell. Dear little girl, how " her face would brighten ! What a cosy, hapio home she could make ! and she said tin curtains wonidn’t cost anything, and hammock on the porch to rest in. Lights? Queer where the lights ennn from, unless—why, yes, olmost to a station, of course. Doll must have put * bright light in the window. Ala*! Bill had climbed back over tin tender to look at a suspected hot-l>ox on the after truck. Shriek after shriek of warning from a steam-whistle aided the flut-hing of tlx signal lights and, at he-t,. forced tficii meaning upon the beiibqjbPd br.iin With a lew cry of horror the engine w:, reversed, but too late to avert the crash that followed as the two freight trains werepiled upon each other ip. common wreck. ~ l ~* ‘‘What possessed you to run on in that fashion, naan? Were yon drunk or crazy ?” demanded more than one rough voice as Jim stood by the track. But he only gazed with blanched face at the scene before him aud answered them nothing. “Fortunately—almost miraculously, it seemed—no one was seriously injured,” as the morning papers said in chronic ling the occurrence. Under the ’same glaring head-lines they also commended the promptness of the company in dis missing “the engineer whose criminal carelessness caused tbe disaster, and who, as nearly as oould be learned, was comfortably deeping at his poet, and so neglectful of all signals !” These were the tidings that reached" Dell instead of the glad word for which she had waited. “What they say is true, after a fash ion," said Jim simply and sadly. “I was to blame for it—and yet I wasn’t, for I was not fit to make the run, and I told them so.” There was no one to chronicle his years of faithful service, or the "criminal carelessness,” if not cruelty, which had placed him in such s position; but these things were well understood among the many workers in that railroad town, and they acknowledged to each other, with ready but helpless sympathy, that it was “rough on poor Jim.” Rongh it sorely grew as the long days came and went, and the hope of rein statement grew dimmer. “All those fni—ing men, who conldn’t be fomul when I needed a single night’s rest, seemed to* have turned up once more, and they can spare me indefinitely,” he explained to Dell, with a pretense of jocularity that scarcely covered the bitterness. The brave little woman tried to comfort and encourage him, though the dancing light had gone out of her brown eyes, aud new grave line’ wsn deepening about the young lips. The little house they had planned seemed so like the shadowy ghost of a dead hope that neither cared to talk of it any more, and indeed Dell’s ingenuity found full occupation nowin combating the various wild schemes which Jim in his despera tion was constantly forming. He had beM.jnriky.to look for employment, but business was dull everywhere at this season; snd, moreover, grown np in that railroad town, where all interest snd in dustry centered in the shope and tracks, he had belonged to the line from boy hood; he could do but the one thing, and there was little chance for 4 situation elsewhere while the shadow of the great corporation's disapproval seemed to fol low him in all hie efforts like a blighting frost Bo ths bright autumn leaves dropped from Ik* trees, leaving <ox^ brown and from the hills; and the narrow iron track, stretching away over the frozen earth toward theeold gray sky, looked to Dell's sorrowful eyes a fittiug emblem of the dreary life-road that lay before him. “I’m going away to-moirow,” Jim was paying, as they passed slowly over the bndgeanddown toward the town. “I’ve shown idiocy enough in waiting here for any chance of justice. I mean to gef ’ as far west as I can make my way, aud I’ll come back when I've some good word to bring—if that time ever conges.” It was vfselpBs*to combat his purpose; there was nothing better to offer. The girl’s wistful gaze strayed with a dreary persistency to the track again. What a hard, narrow road it was, stretching on to its cheerless goal—the far-away wintry horizon l Down on tbe walk by the round-house a knot of loungers had gathered Icha bod Turner's wanderings had brought him thither again—the place seemed t hoM some peculiar fascination for him— aud he was discoursing on his fnvorit <»nr «i itr theme. Suddenly a movement and murmur of excitement ran through the crowd, and its numbers were speedily -awgmoatod from .vaiiaus qaartera alike | iL.ni building. Swiftly and unexpectedly the shaker had turned, and with a single bound placed himself in the cab of a locomotive that had for a moment been left imteuanted “It’s steamed up!” “Off! off!” “Come out of that!” shouted several voices. ■-«*» ■' But Ichabod laughed hoarsely and waved his long arms triumphantly al>ove his head. “I’m the only man on this continent that oan run an engine ! I’m ordered to hike this one and go and turn the world right side up! Hurrah!” Two or three persons rushed forward, but he caught up an iron bar and wielded it so vigorously that they were compi lied to fall back. Then, like a flash, his hand seized the throttle-lever, and the dangerous steed he had chosen began to show signs of life. “Pull him off!” "Block the wheels!” rang out in conflicting orders. But the madman laughed again, his wild eyes gloaming like lire; aud shook his bar in threatening and defiance. “Touch me if you dare! I’m sent to set the crooked straight. Here comes the millennium l Clear the track for the mMlennraurf 1 And he was off.—^ iswiRly as an arrow se me one darted tb' ongh the crowd, ran along the track and leaped on to the engine, clinging, no one knew quite how, as it moved away. Dell found herself suddenly de serted, and could only move forward with the others, who were following with eyes of—mingled admiration and horror the athletic young figure clinging and swinging as the. speed increased, until it finally forced ite~way into the cab: “What a terror to l>e let loose on the raid! W T ho can tell what he will run into before he can l>e stojUped !” cx- tlian cancels that little misfortune of yonrs last fall. There is no telling where this might have ended but for yon. Cull around at the office in dko morning, will yon? We ahall have something to say to you.” “What does that mean?” questioned eager Dell, as Jim made his way to her side. “It means that everything is all right again,” answered Jim, with an odd smile about his lips. “Queer how soon a bit of success can change a great crime into merely ‘a httie misfortune. The* e*citement was over, and the yard settled back to ordinary routine, but the young engineer and pretty Dell "ttngmd for a last pitying, tender glance at the still form, reverently covered now. “For whatever he may* have been to the rest of the world, dear Jim, for ns he fulfilled his mission,” said the girl softly — OurCvniinrnt. A REMARKABLE FIRE. CHANUEH IN WHEAT CULTURE. Modern Wheat «2rawla«. OM til"'* « Hli the llrab*.. nil HaniW ni hattM bre&ebee; the claimed one "with white face. “Jim Barclay ’ll manage him !” “Jim ’ll be killed !” answered dissent ing voices. Jim’s unexpected appearance in the cab, meanwhile, had momentarily con fused its occupanf, who, until then, had not been aware of his presence. “Where did you come from ?” he de manded in surprise. “Flew down,” panted Jim; “sent to help you. .Bat what on earth do yon mean by trying to start the millennium iu broad daylight ?” “Daylight?” 'repeated Ichabod, be wildered by an earnestness and assurance as fierce as his own. “Don’t yon know we must wait until the stars begin to fall? Resides, we mnst go back and telegraph to all the world to clear the track for us.” He was improving his companion's momentary confusion by gcully edging into his place and crowding him back, while he urged the superior advantages of his own plan of proceeding. All the details of that brief, horrible ride Jim could never clearly recall, but, with the engine once in his own hands, he held possession, and as soon as it was possible reversed it, endeavoring the while to dis tract the other’s attention by a stream of explanations concerning their joint mission. Tbe suggestion of clearing the track seemed to suit Ichabod’s crazed brain, aud seizing the cord near him he dung toil so persistently that the shriek ing, deafening steam-whistle drowned out all further efforts at conversation, aud never ceased its terrific din until they rolled back into the great yard. Officers, police and train dispatchers had been hastily notified, only to find themselves helpless in the matter, and a line of anxious spectators watched the engine’s return. Then, discovering tor the first time that his project was foiled, or bent upon some new scheme—no one conld ever tell which—Ichabod suddenly dropped the cord, and, before hit com panion oould surmise his intention, leaped to the track. A moment later he was drawn from under the cruel wheels and tenderly lifted. “So endeth—the fink lesson,” he mur mured, and then all earthly tangles for him were over, and life’s rongh places grew smooth and plain. Jim was greeted with congratulations, praises and questions on every side. “That was a brave deed of yonrs, sir, —a dangerous undertaking, very skill fully planned and executed,” declared an officer of the road, with e oongratule* Umj shake ike hand. MU fax more “We had a fire in Walla Walla the other day,” says a newspaper correspon- A -block of one and one-half story pine shanties on the main street biased up like kindling wood, which, in deed, was all that they were The fire » was just below my hotel, so we were all ready to vacate, which was happily un necessary. But that was the most re- markabl'e 'fire I have seen. I was struck dumb by the apparition of an old-time hand engine, the like of which I haven’t seen since the tournaments we used to haveiu Massachusetts country towns fif teen years ago. There was a ‘steamer, ’ to<k, but the fire was nearly burned out before it went to work. ‘ ‘The crowd was curious. There were cowboys and Indians, army officers, farmers, gamblers and wddiers. A spick and span officer climbed a shed aud es sayed to ascend tho roof of a burning house. It was like the frog in the well. Every time he went ahead two feet he slipped back three, until finally he threw the water wildly liefore him, slipped and came roiling down on tne shed, followed by a cascade of water and an empty bucket. He repeated this about a dozen times. At the end of his experiment any well regulated household dog would have promptly taken that dilapidated figure for a most villuimnis tramp. “Some firemen held a door -before them for a shield. I’he door caught fire and burned like tinder. * They didn’t know it at first, but suddenly they found themselves being cooked exactly like planked shad. “Nor should I forget the lofty indiffer ence of the Chinamen. There was an attempt to impress some of them to man tbe brakwof tho hamkengine, but John unanimously declared, ‘Too much foolee. Me no sabe.’ “Finally a man was carried across tho s tred from the flames which- were con Burning his liti’n shop. He writhed con vulsively in the arms d the firemen, and uttered piercing shrieks. P**op)e rushed toward him from every side, bitten with a morbid desire to see some ghastly spectacle. “He was laid down on tho grass. With sobs and prayers he groaned; ‘Oh, me leg, me leg, me leg. God help me, what shall I do ?’ We could see that one trouser leg, torn and soiled, hung empty." ‘He has lost his leg,’ said one. Great heaven, send for a doctor ! How did it happen ?’ exclaimed a kind-heart ed woman, as the poor fellow burst into a temptest of*tears and sobs. “Suddenly a man pierced tho crowd, liearing a strange object in his hands. Was it tho doctor ? Every one pressed forward. The sobs suddenly ceased. Something was going on in the centre of tlio crowd which we didn't under stand. Every one waited breathlessly to hear shrieks of agony. Bat instead we heard a prolonged ‘Whoo-o-o-p!’ Suddenly the sufferer rose to his feet, not foot, executed a short war dance of triumph, and administered a sound kick to a small boy who was coquetting with some confectionery. Need I say that tho lost leg was of wood ?” i’rnsant Life in I'lilna. Wheat is getting to be an important crop in sections of tho country where its culture a few years ago was confined to here and there, a farmer who clung with persistent tenacity to the maxim of the fathers that “farmers must raise their own bread.” Tlio changes In the man agement of the crop are interesting. Wheat was formerly sown in August or the first week in September. Very lit tle was, however, put in as late as Sep tember. The ground was fitted by sum mer-fallowing aud with manure rotted in the barn-yard and harrowed iu with the seed. After weevil became so plenty as to damage the crop, varieties with chaff thicker aud closer fitting were found, upon which the weevil larvm could not work so well, aud so the period of wheat-growing was extended. The old Mediterranean wheat—a Run- sian variety—became the farmers’ de pendence, and while at first it mode in ferior ffour as compared with the old kinds, still it was wheat and became the universal crop because almost weevil- proof. It improved rapidly with con-, tinned culture aud has been the basis of many otherhnproved varieties. It wns very hardy and productive, resembling the modern Clawson in these respects, but, unlike it, was red. When tlie Hes sian fly became troublesome its habits were studied and later sowing was found to be an effective remedy, as the career of the fly ended before the wheat was large enough for it to deposit its eggs, where they remained until the next year to hatch and feed upon tho juices 6! the stems. The last and conquering enemy to wheat was the earth itself, The condition of the rural mas. es in China is indeed pitiful, and it is no wonder that tho people of that country eagerly seek opportunities for bettering their circumstances in foreign countries. A correspondent of the London Timet cites the following as an average speci men of the welfare tho peasant clashes: “A family of eight persons owns an acre asd a half of laud. The land w«s Imught by tbe grandfather of the pres ent head of the family and has never been subdivided since nor added to. Hf grows about seventy bushels of rice and thirty five of wheat and some vegeta- Ucs and cotton besides, worth altogeth er in money about $50. He has two nephews who work ontside and bring home something to help, and in that way get along, but they are very poor. He and all his neighbors wear native bine cloth, spun and woven in the fami ly by the women from cotton grown by themselves. He paver wars foreign cot ton. The east he had on (s well-worn affair) had been made two years previ ously, and it would last two yean more. It served him at night as a coverlet as wreil as a cost by day." Another family possessing four acres wcre t l letter off than somewf their neigh* bora, bnt hail fifteen months to f«*4 *uJ which, with all the painstaking, refused to return a remunerative crop, and wheat growing marched westward to newer aud less exhausted lands. After a rest of more than a quarter of a century, the soil with renewed strength now gives forth fine crops and the fathers would lie astonished could they know that thirty and even forty bushels ore now sometimes gathered from an acre on the same land which produced little more, if anything, than the seed. The method of culture has changed. There is now bnt little summer-following, as the improved cultivators render succes sive plowing unnecessary, and August is passed as unsuited to wheat. Tbe best crops are now obtained by later sowing and the latter part of September is con sidered the proper time. My wheat was not put in until October 6, as the ground was too dry to plow until that time. It is sown on clover sod, which is well adapted to the crop, and drilled in seven pecks to the acre with 200 pounds of super-phosphate and no other manure. It is a notion of formers that leaving the surface of the ground uneven, after the drill, is on advantage—as it keeps the snow from blowing off. There is force in this, but there is another fact which wioukl be considered at the aame time. Wheat will do better ifu.^ "round is not too loose or mellow. It shonld be oom- pset or firm, the opposite of loose, and at the same time not hard or ernsty. When the ground is jnst right the wheat will do-better. This fact has been tested by following the The principle is that when the ground is made firm or well settled about the seed it will take root sooner, grow faster and stand both frost and drouth better. Wheat should always have the earth settled firmly around it, as t'his will pre vent the winter winds from blowing the >arth away from therooU. It if (here-' fore a nice question whether the wheat ground should always lie rolled when sown. My wheat was rolled, as the ground Was very mellow, and by so do ing, I am sure there will be a gain of a veek in the growth. It may be said that rolling will make the ground hard and crusty on the surface. It will not, unless it is wet, and it never should lie rolled when in this condition. An ad vance has been made in wheat-culture by harrowing it in spring. This is a modern improvement which should be most generally adopted. The gross wed should be sown on it put as soon as the surface becomes dry enough, no matter whether the frost is all out or not, and a good harrowing given to it. This will break np the ernst so many farmers are afraid of if they compact the soil in autumn, and at the same time it will cover the grass seed and in sure a good “ catch," which will pay for all the trouble. Wheat is wonderfully improved by a spring harrowing. I wondering whether we can keep up the fertility of the soil for wheat without a break, as has occurred when the earth seemed to be exhausted for its growth. .If half that is said about the wonderful virtues of super-phesphates is true then we can grow wheat ad infinitum by their use. I would rather, however, but my faith in a three-years’, or better yet, a four-/ears’ rotation, with ’a liberal dressing of barn-yard manure, combin ing both animal excrement and rotted provender, using plaster and clover in turn.—F. D Ccans, Kirby Homestead, N. Y. Spontaneous Conbustlon. J The.origin of the disastrous conflagra tion which destroyed in a few mthuTei' the buildings qf tbe Pittsburg Exposi tion, with alt their oontenta, has been explained by a theory which is, to aay tbe least, very plausible. It seems thst Mr. Warner, the isronaut, having an as cension to make, apent the day before the fire in repairing his balloon, and in revaruishing the canvas of which it was made with boiled linseed oil As the most convenient place for bis work, be chose the boiler room, and after the var nishing was complete, the balloon was rolled up and put by to dry. A more reckless operation tiiau this it would l>e difficult to conceive, tbe warmth of the room, the rolling together of the canvas, and tho t>oiling of the oil all conspiring to make the spontaneous combustion of the inflammable mass almost inevitable, and the opinion of the Pittsburg Fire Marshal will be concurred in by every builder, architect, insurance agent, and painter’s apprentice, that the result was simply what ought to be exacted under the circumstances. The only thing thst conld have made the canvas more cer tain to take fire than simple saturation with linseed oil would have l>een to sprinkle it with water Wfore rolling up, but this is by so means essential to the effect. It is, however, a very common factor in the cases of spontaneous com bustion which occur every week or so. Some nninstrncted person, having been engaged in pointing or polishing wood work, undertakes to save the cotton rag which he has beeu using by washing out the oil or point, but after one or two trials, finding this a rather difficult opera tion, al>andons the attempt, and rolls up the rag iu a knot, and throws, it into some corner, where the oil and water speedily react upon each other to act tho whole iu a I'daze.—American Architect Married In Fob. OLD FOLKS AT HOME. HCBJEIT DEAR TO TO* HBAKT OF KTKBY TBCK MAN. Young Mr. Vaughan, who was married “iu fun” to a young lady of Flstlmah, N. Y., whom he had met only a few limes until she joined with him in the matrimonial game, is probably inclined to think that marriage is not Hie funniest tiring in the world. The young lady “whom he bad never met” until tbe oc casion of tbe mock marriage, but to whom he wrote the next day, addressing her as his "dear wife,” persists in re garding the marriage as a serious one, and claims him as her legal husband. Why young people oi a certain class should regard marriage M a fit subject for bnrlesqne it is difficult to say. They never engage in burlesquing deaths and yet as they grow older they learn that marriage is quite as serious a matter as death. The stupidity of those who find amusement in mock mar riages is only equaled by their vulgarity. Oae is at a loss to understand what must be the mental character of a girl who will go throngh with the ceremony of marriage “in fun” with a young man with whom she has had no preriooa ac quaintance. In moat eases she is not generally recognized as a complete idiot, bat on what other plea than idiocy can her conduct possibly be excused? We pride ourselves in this country on different methods. ^ the complete freedom which is given to our girls, but when young people use thst freedom in burlesquing msfriflge it is time to ask whether the nursery is Not tbe proper place for them, uutil they can learn how to conduct themselves de cently if-not sensibljr. Tbe tierMM Taw Otsteb Busnrtss.—Baltimore, having more than 920,000,000 invested in oyster pecking snd over 80,000 per sous engaged in tbe bosinees, is taking unwsnrns to prevent tbe destruction oi the oyster beds in the Chesapeake Bay. It is proposed that tbe period of rest far oysters shall be lengthened tad extend frost A?# I O** I* Tw« Plriarr* Ttat it Will ke Well M Take a 0—4 Lm*k At. [From the Milwaukas Saa.) In a recent publication was an engrav ing entitled “The Old Fo)ks at Home." 11 represented an aged couple sitting to- . gether reading a letter which lay on the table before 'them. The aged mother, with a vniiling face, was whispering something to the pleasant faced father. There must have been good news in that tetter. It may have been from their boy—we arc always boys and girls to father aud mother—telling of hia auceeae thus far iu the battle of life. Maybe it was from a loved daughter, writing to fatbet aud mother, telling them how much her little ones tatted of grandpa and grandma. It was a beautiful picture of a subject dear to the heart of every true man and woman. The old folk* at home, hi this picture, were just what they shorild have been—happy. It was, aside from an artistic view, a picture that would attract and delight the eye. Another picture is punted to the mind. It is tho same subject. In place of smiles there are tears coursing down th furrowed checks. An expression of anx ious care takes tbe place of pleasure, s they gaze on the letter before them. That letter contains bad news from those whom these two aged hearts, in the years gone by, had hoped would prove an honor and bleeaing to their father and mother in their old age. Now all this bright coloring of a happy old age gives way to Hie dark colors of life Death welcome and tbe grave a bed of ease. These are true pictures of the old folks st home iu every commu nity. Looking st the aged mother's face, love for her child shines forth under all, no matter how trying, curcumatanoeo. In the criminal court of Chicago, te- oentiy, a young man was tried and victed for a capital crime. The had sat with her boy all through the trial. She had heard all the for and Against him. She had to the Ilgam ants of counsel for againn ngr son, aad when the jury broagit’’hi a Verdict of guilty aha oould no longer restrain herself and in hew deepair aad excitement eroee and de nounced in franried words timeout, hoping only to save her boy. Blinded by love that mother oould see no HI in her son, though he belonged to that clam of things which infest all pities. No one can estimate a love. It descend* deeper, it higher, it is brooder aad morn charitable than all things else of creation. Jfo matter how low and depraved a child may become, mother’s love goes out to thst child with tbe same fotee as it would had that child grown up and the mother bad realized all her fond hopes for its future. How many young mad who are away from the old folks el home titiak ef mothers’ love? Whan tempted to fin a questionable sot think of mother. H evil companions entice yon it will help you to resist temptation. If the yowfig men of America who axe on! in the world Itlirlim tn wuktt ■ —t|iilMilij would only keep the picture ef the old (oiks at home, especially mother's pic ture, constantly in their hearts then would i>o fewer mothers laid to rest in broken Kearted graves and much don’t go t J The greatest numerical strength of the German army in the late war with France never exceeded 1,400,000 men; but a writer in a rtcent nnmlier of the Fortnightly Iter lew declares that in a futnrdV war halt a million more sol diers oould lie sent into the field. He estimates that Germany can almost im mediately mobilize an army, of 38,000 officers, 1,450,000 men, 27,000 physicians and officials, and 300,000 hones; tor which number all clothes, armaments, outfits, carts, etc., are provided in peace time, and held iu readiness in the differ ent garrisons. To the mobilized army would have to be added the surplus cf drilled reserve and militiamen, number ing 150,000 men; the depot reserves of the first class, numbering 220,000 men; one contingent of recruits, one-year Vol unteers, Volunteers under twenty yean, and ten contingents of Landstnrm; which make np a grand total of 2,830,000 trained men, commanded by officers who have fought some of tbe greatest battles of the century, and have never turned their backs upon the enemy. A War Mery. An ex-Confederate surgeon relates in The Cleveland Under that ones during the war, while a terrible thunder-storm was raging, “Stonewall” Jackson ordered General Mahone to take his men and charge the Union forces. Then, tired out, Jackson lay down under a tree and fell asleep. Soon* he was aroused by one of Mahone’s aids, who said: “.General, I am sent by Ganaral Mahone for orders. He sajs fhi rain has wet the ammunition of his troops, and wants to know whether he shall n tom.” Replied Jackson: “Ask Om oral Mahone if the same rain which God scuds to wet hia ammunition will not abo wetthataf tiMttMMBj. Teli him to charge th*m with *04 crime to record, uu?-, tha oM fcatirttf iMfre, Stead firm by the principles mother taught, for it a .to mother all credit is due for whai good' there is in ns. Civil Right* la Xew Terk. Says “Seymour,” the New York cor respondent of the Hartford Timer.* Our hotel keepers and theatre managers fie not show any special interest la the civil rights derision. The reaeon is that the act just declared unconetitational gave them no trouble to speak of, be* cause they paid hardly any attention to it Very few negroes applied for admis sion to either the hotels or the theatres, and the few who did apply were got rid of without much difficulty. It ie tine that two or three hunatitB were eoan- mvnoed by colored persone who tynoied themselves aggrieved, bnt they were not pushed with much spirit* ana I no one any particular harev Bo far as the theatres aae negroes were admitted to 1 them before the will be admitted right stag whde they pay their way. But not to the expensive |s •eats to which the high-famed wkilg . people go. H they wish to gaUesiss or even the **i of the brieooias which need to hei the dress oireicfj. i jeetion. I hardly , ever gUI a think anything of it J* ‘Qw;